[How Trump allies have organized and promoted anti-lockdown protests]

18 hours ago, Searat7 said:

I am in the same boat and would die for a haircut and to be able to get back in my gym. 

An unfortunate turn of phrase, since both environments are ones in which sustained proximity to an infected person could produce just that result!

[Flights back to normal by Oct 2021, says AOT]

4 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Unbridled optimism plus reality can sometimes be interpreted as hope mixed with naivety.  ????

But one has to be impressed by their ability to predict figures to 0.1%!

[Man shoots wife in head after she refused him liquor money]

11 hours ago, jadee said:

What pistol is chambered for 11mm? I've heard of 0.44 caliber but 0.433 sounds a little obscure.  

11mm was quite a common calibre for military handguns in Europe in the first half of the last century. Belgium and France in particular produced them - both revolvers and automatics. At a guess, they may have found their way into this part of the world via French Indo-China?

 

Most illegally held old pistols such as this probably come with an old box of a couple of dozen rounds of ammunition, and that is it.

[Airbus pulls out of U-Tapao airport project]

9 minutes ago, tamsam6 said:

"Airbus SAS was only private corporation which passed the THAI’s special bidding process for the MRO"

"Special bidding process"

What a singularly (in)appropriate euphemism!

[Airbus pulls out of U-Tapao airport project]

29 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

Thailand could always try Comac the Chinese commercial aircraft manufacturer .. 

Ah yes, one of their launch customers is "Ghengis Khan Airlines"!

[Airbus pulls out of U-Tapao airport project]

11 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

Erm, not sure this is true - Airbus and Thai Airways to develop a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Rayong’s U-Tapao Airport has fallen victim to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

Airbus said they were not joining this project about 7 or 8 weeks ago. I can imagine their decision had absolutely nothing to do with COVID. I am guessing it was based on the fact that THAI are losing approx 1 billlion THB / month and are being ran as a show pony by ex military / air force personnel who have little to no experience in aviation sector management.

As an excuse it saves enormous loss of face. Can't really go public with "no one will touch our plans with a very long bargepole" can they?

[PM Prayut puts decision on lockdown off by a week]

3 hours ago, overt2016 said:

She need help and didn't know where to go. I thought that's what village heads were for.

Some "Pui yai bahn" are better/more conscientious than others. God rest her soul.

[North Korea's Kim getting treatment after cardiovascular procedure - report]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Kim's health has deteriorated in recent months due to heavy smoking, obesity and overwork, the Daily NK report said.

I read elsewhere that he is also partial to expensive brandy (as indeed I am) but in his case in industrial quantities. That won't have helped.

 

Mind you, it must help to be <deleted> if you have to face the public with that haircut!

[Tesla Model 3 joins Thailand National Police as new electric fleet car]

I understand that the Department of Transport were considering that all electric cars should be fitted with a "noisemaker" to give an audible warning of their approach.

 

These police Teslas however are exempted, as the continuous requests for tea money are expected to give adequate warning of their approach.

[Tesla Model 3 joins Thailand National Police as new electric fleet car]

1 hour ago, steelepulse said:

I wonder if they got the 20 richest families to pay their fair share.  Certainly wouldn't want to use all that wasted money on 5K handouts to the poor.

I should imagine that the chap who persuaded them to lease them over five years for 5 times the purchase price has just joined the 20 richest!

[PM’s letter to Thailand’s 20 richest people (English translation)]

1 minute ago, Sametboy2019 said:

So easy to lead when things are going well.

Just admit you don't know what to do and stand down and let a professional take over.

Oh he is the consummate professional. He has spent probably the last twenty years planning and collecting support, then engineering a coup, then installing a "new constitution" which allowed him to "win" an election ( called, fought and counted on terms he dictated). He has been quite professional in the way he has gone about that, he has followed his staff college précis assiduously.

 

The problem is that now he is faced with a situation, largely due to his (and his regime's) inchoate handling of the crisis, that threatens his new order. He knows that to do anything will involve spending money, and he has no access to that money - it is spoken for/spent on projects and purchases made to cement his grip on power. He has run into a brick wall. He knows that the system he constructed has foundations in sand.

 

The only solution is for someone chosen by, trusted by and selected by the people to be handed the reigns. A couple of names spring to mind. That would require an election. Not an ideal time but entirely possible to hold one within a month.

 

It won't happen of course, he will keep facing the brick wall until one way or another the regime falls.

[Grab Food VS LineMan VS Hungry Now]

5 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Not locked down in Chiang Rai, I go and get takeaway myself from various restaurants. I'd only use a delivery service if I had no other option, because I like to get my food without a middleman.

Having said that, useful information from the OP. Does anyone have a comparison between Grab and Food Panda, that seems to be the competitors in CR.

Both concerns drive like lunatics - Food Panda seem slightly less manic!????

[Tell PM to stop weapons purchases, end corruption: academic's message to country's richest]

51 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

I live in Thailand. I am not a citizen. Not a legal Resident. Am on a O visa. I have no opinion on matters Thai Govt except as expressed to immediate family.

 

The reason is that it does me no good to find myself angered because I have no say in Thai politics at all. No vote. No say.No input asked. None given.

 

I like it this way. It's very Taoist.

Not that I am a Taoist but like water I just keep flowing around the rocks and don't get stuck in the cracks. 

 

All the screaming and yelling, but none of it is at me so why listen?

 

I have family up in Isaan and my family here in Bangkok. There is no emergency taking place under my roof. All is calm. Up Northeast all are calm in the village. Family elsewhere in Local area...also cool.

 

A beautiful day.

To precis: "I'm all right Jack!"

[Tell PM to stop weapons purchases, end corruption: academic's message to country's richest]

12 hours ago, CLS said:

Times are changing. Things that could not have been outspoken before this crisis are now socially accepted.

They may be socially acceptable, but are they acceptable to those in charge?

[Internet]

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs, check that you are not locked in for a period once the promotion price period has elapsed. that is a favourite trick.

[SURVEY: Alcohol ban -- worth it or not?]

First batch of quick and easy cider should be ready by the end of the week - it is looking good - "Milk of Amnesia'!

[Wissanu denies government 'begging' for money by reaching out to tycoons]

1 hour ago, Almer said:

What funds do you refer to, only a month ago there was i believe

1700 billion in cash reserves or am i suffering shut in syndrome ? 

 

1 hour ago, johng said:

They have (allegedly) over 200 billion USD in foreign currency reserves

https://www.bot.or.th/App/BTWS_STAT/statistics/BOTWEBSTAT.aspx?reportID=80&language=ENG

 

but not enough to pay Thais the 5,000 baht per month for 3 months ?

Whilst that money may exist, and may be being held by the country, remember that this government is a puppet of certain interests, and therefore probably does not have unfettered access or control over that money.

1 hour ago, hugh2121 said:

How about cancelling some of the military toys on order?

They are of very little use anyway in the military sense, the submarines' shortcomings have been widely discussed, and the ground/air equipments are in small amounts, and without extensive training and developing and adopting doctrines to suit their capabilities will have little effect upon the combat power of the forces. The purpose of the purchases were a) the chance to pose and boast and b) financial opportunities attached to the procurement processed. Both have passed.

 

[Wissanu denies government 'begging' for money by reaching out to tycoons]

1 hour ago, nahkit said:

One way the government could raise money would be to cancel the bonus payments to civil servants and police that they announced last week.

They need their loyalty, why do you think they made the bonus in the first place?

[Wissanu denies government 'begging' for money by reaching out to tycoons]

I reckon that this whole announcement was cooked up with the Billionaire community before the idea was made public.

 

They are, after all, the people that this government answer to.

 

They (government and billionaires) realise that they are looking at a very large number of desperate and hopeless people. They have bottled out off diverting the flow of cash, (or simply don't actually have the cash) to make any meaningful attempt to relieve the problem. Even if the lock-down were to be lifted at dawn tomorrow (at what monumental loss of face) it would be a couple of months before the flow of cash started to trickle in to the dispossessed, They will lift the lock-down just as soon as they can without losing face ( you must have seen the hints being dropped lately) but they still need something to cool down the situation - the "benevolent uncles" may be an attempt to do that.

[Navy slashes 2020 budget by 33 per cent 'to help govt fight Covid-19']

We are in awe!

[Prayut appeals to the 20 richest Thais for help]

3 hours ago, Wildliferescue said:

If I was one of these 20 I would do it on one condition; that he resigns. 

 

1 hour ago, Yadon Toploy said:

Why? They are all part of the same gang.

And the gang have worked this one out. They are the people who drive this government. They will know the level of dissatisfaction, hopelessness and even desperation amongst the millions who have abruptly lost everything. They will wish to be seen as the benefactors - perhaps the saviours of the poor. It is ultimately a strategy to ensure they remain in their place. They will get anything they "give" back.

[Prayut appeals to the 20 richest Thais for help]

10 hours ago, kickstart said:

Can not say that, most were  poor people, and not many modest land owners now, most not very well at all landowners, he brought in the 30 baht medical service ,money for people over 60,money for the handicapped ,only doing what our western country did 50-80 years ago.

If they were bribes why are they still in place after 12 years plus ,successive governments still  trying to bribe the poplars 

The 30 Baht health scheme and similar schemes are still in place because the various regimes which have serially ousted Thaksins various (elected) governments have never really felt secure enough to scrap them. They know that it will take more than a slack handful of "Strikers", a few helicopters and a couple of score tanks to hold back the people if they really get annoyed.

 

Perhaps that will be the unwritten subtext in his "open letter"?

[Thai provinces extend ban on alcohol sales]

10 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I've decided to become a Catholic, I might get my daily fix that way ????

Out of luck "Golden Triangle", Mass is being only celebrated online at the moment!

[Thai provinces extend ban on alcohol sales]

8 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Still yet to be given any reason as to why only Thailand needs to impose and now seemingly extend an alcohol ban whilst other nations do not.  

 

Edit: The alcohol ban over Songkran made sense to stop parties. That has now ended. 

It is very simple. A variety of officials, in a variety of uniforms, are all making sure that their "markers" are being laid down. Whilst perhaps it was initially an attempt to curb Songkran parties, it is now an exercise in personal power. "I am important, I say something, and everyone has to do what I say!'

 

Yes, I can live without a drink, but I very much like to relax with a beer or a whisky soda of an evening.

[PM apologizes for miscommunication about 5,000 baht subsidies]

59 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

They are easing things at the end of the month to send people back to work so they don’t have to pay them the 5000 bht !!

Probably because a lot of it has vanished somewhere !

Absolutely - just look at all the hints being dropped all over the place about easing the lockdown.

 

They have looked at the cost of continuing the lockdown, realised that they would have to pay out to avoid widespread discontent, baulked at the idea of using the reserves or otherwise diverting the flows to the troughs, and are going to re-open.